Teenage boy acne. Antibiotic resistant

[Snowonground]

I wondered if anyone had any experience/tips. My son has been on the same anti biotics for two years and has been given various creams by the doctor that make his face sore so he won't use them. Ive tried to get him referred to a dermatologist through the NHS but the wait is extremely long. We've tried all sorts of things.. Korean skin care, azalaeic acid, salicylic acid etc. All the things that can be easily looked up and are advised by good social media influences. So Im not asking for thoughts on that per se. Just experience and whether anything worked for antibiotic resistance. Any thoughts outside the box!

Accutane needs to eaten with a fatty food so I had it with dinner & slept through the side effects. I used lanolin nipple balm as lip balm.

4 months and I was all done.

The main side effect was I didn’t have cystic acne any more. I used a plain cleanser with no acids and wore sunblock but I do that anyway.

I ordered tretinoin for mine

Roaccutane

My DS had dreadful skin from age 12. We started with topical, then oral antibiotics. He used all the creams and lotions going. At 14 he started on roaccutane from the dermatologist. Within 6 months his skin cleared and it has never recurred. What made our minds up in the end to start on roaccutane was the scarring that was becoming evident. Roaccutane is the most effective treatment for acne.

I feel for your son. I have acne rosacea. I was helped a lot (not entirely) by antibiotics, some creams also helped, but the thing that I stand by is twice daily use of Nicinamide. There are lots of brands, I use The Ordinary.

Roaccutane cured mine, fantastic drug!

I’m not sure a GP can prescribe it, bout could refer you. We had to go to a consultant dermatologist.

The dryness is caused because the skin reduces sebum production and increases cell turnover (iirc), so lips, hands, face etc gets dry and flaky. My son had a lip balm and moisturiser in his school bag to apply during the day. Morning and night he used cerave, which we were told was really effective and gentle. The skin in his nostrils also got weak and dry and he had a few nosebleeds, so reading a PP about baseline up the nose I wish I’d thought of that. Sunscreen is a must, as his skin will be very sensitive to the sun. And no alcohol.

Following

Roccutane’s side effects are pretty concerning.

But not compulsory.

Differin (adapalane) can help as a cream. It comes in strengths of 0.1%, 0.2% and 0.3%. Usually 0.1% is sufficient for U18.